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Critic's Review

Trivia / Goofs

Summary / Analysis

Box Office

Times of India

NBT

Mumbai Mirror

Story:
Ex-navy officer Shammi (Arshad Warsi) and his three-times-US-Visa-rejected friend Kedar (Jackky Bhagnani) help the latter's father in his business of organising wedding events on boats. On one such tryst, the duo's boat is capsized mid-sea and they land on the beaches of Karachi. Is it possible for two Indians to get out of Karachi without their passports? Staying alive is a challenge in such grinding situations.

Review:
The cardinal rule of films like Welcome 2 Karachi is to not to take it too seriously. Keeping true to its publicity of being a random comedy, the film is successful in making you laugh intermittently on its cliched gags at places that are all shades of 'Dumb and Dumber', yet don't cease to be fun.

The flaw of the film, however, lies in its lazy writing. Depending heavily on its low-brow humour and the plot's inherent tenacity, there is hardly any effort to build it beyond what it was on paper. The rampant India-Pakistan jokes have a visible mean streak, that if taken with a pinch of salt, can come across as warm repartee.

Director Ashish Mohan's ambitious premise loses spark in the superfluities he engages in. There is an absolutely unnecessary scene where the people of different nationalities break open fire on each other as a pre-emptive strike for no apparent reason. In hindsight , you can gauge the significance of it vis-a-vis the workings of global politics, but it still comes across as nothing more than sheer noise, lacking impact.

From fart jokes, to 'f***er' jokes, the film is replete with absolutely ridiculous, offensive and still outright hilarious fun. But the thick jokes become sparse in the second half and the film's contrived plotline ends in a climax that cannot be a testament to logic.

Arshad Warsi's screen presence, and his strong sense of comic timing works. Jackky Bhagnani's earnest performance matches his co-actor's and his impeccable Gujju diction deserves thumbs up. Lauren Gottlieb is left unused for most part of the film.

It's an average fare which could've been far better had its meanderings been trimmed.

Hindi films set in Pakistan have always followed standard production values. Dusty roads, decrepit dhabas and a minimum of one goat in every frame. There's a diktat for portraying Pakis too: light eyes- check, kohl equivalent to Lady Gaga at a Halloween party- check, immaculate Urdu/enthusiastic Afghani- check, beard- check, moustache-uncheck. Welcome to Karachi takes these stereotypes to poke their nose and tickle their bunny ears.

This comedy of errors is about two friends from Jamnagar, Kedar Desai (Jackky Bhagnani) and Shammi (Arshad Warsi), who set off for America on a boat, and unlike Columbus, discover Pakistan instead. What follows is a series of adventures starring men in beards chasing the two with swords, butcher knives and kalashnikovs. This happens, while the background score aptly blares, Chal bhaag, nahin toh G pe laat pad jaayegi. But this song is (hopefully) not a secret message for audience members.

The film chugs along as our lead duo hunts for novel ways to survive in the terror state. At one point, they even end up signing up for a terror organisation with suitably-acquired-local names, Ittefaq and What-the-f**k. The film picks up pace in the first half and manages to keep you at the edge of your seat and off it too. The countless plans the two devise to return to India make up the rest of the film. Sometimes, one watches films to experience the unseen. If that's what you're going for, this one offers a bikini-themed garba, a chicken tandoori sliding down a miniature zip line and an ethical CIA operative. Reality, see you later.

A mentionable scene that would've been beautiful on paper but doesn't pack as much punch in execution, features a crossfire between embassies. This happens when an accidental shooting raises an alarm and embassies of nations with a warring past exclusively target each other.

Some of the action scenes in the film are well executed; others would've been a joy to watch in 3D. For instance, the scene in the film which probably required state of the art VFX: Warsi sitting on a see-saw with Bhagnani, and the latter not get catapulted into space. Warsi may have put on a kilo or 30 but his comic timing remains spot-on and he manages to earn a chuckle or two with his one-liners. It's easy to draw a parallel with the Farrelly brothers' Dumb and Dumber, only that Bhagnani singlehandedly attempts the deleted-takes of both, Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels.

His brand of humour sways between silly and downright annoying. Regardless, he seems to have found his groove and knows that he's better off playing a bumbling simpleton than attempting a romantic/action/dramatic hero. His career graph however, offers an idea for a game show: Bhagnani's wheel of fortune, where the numbers on the wheel correspond to the number of films he will lead before finding another vocation worthy of his talent.

On the production front, the WTK team scores fairly well in recreating the now Pakistan. Some locations like airports, establishing city shots and even the mujahideen base camp are well researched and furnished. What could've been excluded is the war zone stock footage, clumsily and forcibly interspersed with the climax.

Short but promising cameos by Pawan Malhotra and Dalip Tahil don't add or subtract much from the overall scheme of things. If Lauren Gottlieb had been un-scarfed in this film, she would've been unconvincing as a Pakistani intelligence agent. Luckily, she isn't. Good job, scarf.

WTK isn't hilarious but has sparks of brilliance and is worth a watch.

TRIVIA

Irrfan Khan was originally pitted opposite Arshad in the film.

Vashu Bhagnani has already announced a series.

An NGO had filed a petition against the song Lalla Laalla Lori

The film's release was postponed to avoid a clash with Tanu Weds Manu Returns

Ex- Royal Marines, paratroopers and special forces which feature in a number of scenes from the film were recruited by stunt coordinator Steve Truglia. A lot of firearms were involved in these scenes.

GOOFS

An ex-Navy officer Shammi is not trained in firing a gun or doing simple giant sling stunts.

When a guy calls a minister from his phone, the number of the film's director is visible on the phone's screen.

The film's CG work is terrible and looks fake.

In one scene Jackky Bhagnani is shown clean shaven. In the very next scene he has a stubble.

When the plane takes off in the final scene, the ISI officer waves them Allah-hafez. It is silly that she being on ground-level knows who is in control of the plane.

PLOT SUMMARY

Ex Navy man was fired from the force for drowning a sturdy boat. His friend Kedar's visa for the US has been cancelled. Kedar's father owns a wedding party business that provides boat facility to customers for wedding functions. After Kedar's Visa application is rejected yet again Shammi comes up with the plan that the duo will take a boat to America which wouldn't require a Visa. The boat that the two take is struck by calamity mid-sea and the duo land up on the beach of Karachi. There's an explosion on the beach and though they remain unhurt they land up in the hospital. On regaining consciousness Shammi realizes that they are in Karachi, Pakistan. He goes frantically looking out for Kedar. The duo hatch a plan of escaping Pakistan by consulting the Indian embassy.

But they get kidnapped midway. Since Shammi is wearing a doctors attire a bunch of people get them to deliver a baby. While Shammi is put on the task, Kedar calls his father in Gujarat to help them out. His father refuses to believe him and the two are left on their own.

Meanwhile a Pakistani intelligence officer who is investigating the case finds a picture of Shammi in the Indian Navy uniform and takes him to be a spy. When Kedar and Shammi reach the Indian consulate the place is found shut and the ISI agent tracks them down and opens fire at them. The two of them flee but in an attempt to steal pizza, they are again kidnapped and taken to an influential don's house.

When the don realizes that the two guys are of no use to him, he gets them dropped at the Indian consulate office in the Pathan area. Shammi abuses the Pakistani cricket team and a fight begins. They flee in a car and a powerful Al-Qaeda leader sends them off to Taliban protection in order to use them as mujhahids for Jihad.

Stuck in the Taliban area, the two hatch ways of escaping. In a futile attempt to call Kedar's father for help again, they activate the drones and the are blows up. They get spotted by the NATO drone and the forces picks them up and takes them for interrogation. The CIA declares that the destruction of the Taliban camp was their credit. But, the original video is leaked by one of the CIA guys.

Then a popular minister in Pakistan stamp the two of them as his Pakistani members. The ISI officer who had first found a picture of Shammi tries to tell him that the men are actually Indians, but she is shushed up him. Shammi and Kedar end up becoming Pakistan's national hero and the face of the minister's political party. Just before the minister and his aides were about to kill them, they are kidnapped again by the Americans.

The Americans are ready to send the two back to India at the cost that they will reveal to the world media how the whole attack on Taliban camp was actually their credit. In the bait to escape, the two agree.

At the airport, Shammi spots the Taliban mole he had met in the camp. He gauges that the mole is planning a massive attack. Shammi and Kedar after a massive exchange of fire in a plane, saves lives of everyone aboard. The two take off eventually and are on their way to India but both don't know how to fly a plane!

Action-comedy film Welcome 2 Karachi has received a lukewarm response at the box-office.

Starring Arshad Warsi and Jackky Bhagnani in the lead roles, the film could only manage to collect around Rs 1.45 crore on Day 1, as per a report on Boxofficeindia.com. Facing tough competition from Tanu Weds Manu Returns, the collections of the film have dropped severely post the weekend.